DETROIT _ When Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump comes to Detroit this weekend to try to strengthen his standing in the African-American community, he will be attending service at a black church and doing a one-on-one interview with the congregation's leader, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson.
But that's about it.
Trump won't be speaking to the parishioners at Great Faith Ministries during the 11 a.m. service. And his interview with Jackson on the church's Impact Network _ which will not be open to the public of the media _ won't air for at least a week after the event on Saturday.
Trump's first foray into an African-American church was initially billed as a speech to the congregation, laying out his policies that have an impact on minorities, followed by the interview with Jackson.
"He'll be here Saturday. He's going to sit in service and have the experience in the black church, and then he and I will be in this office and do an interview for the Impact Network that will be aired later on," Jackson said. "Just like any visitor, there will be fellowship at the service and he can talk to people one-on-one."
Jackson said he wasn't disappointed that Trump won't be speaking directly to the voters in his congregation and that his interview was the same thing as talking with voters.
"My congregation trusts my judgment. They know that I'm not going to put anything or anyone in front of them that I feel is going to be harmful, and I feel we should have an educated conversation about what you're going to do," he said. "He will be talking to voters just like when he sits down with any news agency, like CNN. Every time he's on Fox or MSNBC, he's talking to voters."
There may be a private meeting with a small group of parishioners, but it wasn't clear if that meeting would be open to the media. The Trump campaign wouldn't confirm details of the visit to the church or any other events in Michigan Saturday.
Jackson, who formed the Impact Network _ with a reach of 50 million viewers, according to its website _ with his wife, Beverly Jackson, in 2010, said his first question to Trump will be "Are you a Christian?" He said he also plans to ask Trump if he's a racist, "because so many people think that's what you are."
There has been push back from the community regarding the visit, Jackson said.
"His candidacy has stirred up a lot of emotions with people saying he's a racist, and people saying 'I don't want to hear him' and 'How could you bring him here,'" he said. "He's coming to be interviewed. This is not a Trump rally. This is an opportunity for a dialogue."
The church and the Impact Network have hosted a wide variety of influential political guests, but most have been Democrats. Jackson said he's been voting for Democrats all of his life, but feels if a candidate is going to talk about the African-American community, they should walk the walk.
Trump's message "has not connected. ... He needs to come to African-American communities," he said. "You can't talk to African-Americans in white venues."
The visit comes as Trump has been trying to attract black voters by asking: "What the hell do you have to lose?" He's repeated the message at rallies around the country in the last two weeks.
The challenge for Trump _ and other Republicans _ is that African-American voters widely support Democrats. In 2008, Detroit gave 97 percent of its vote to Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain. In 2012, the black vote was 98 percent for Obama to 2 percent for Mitt Romney. There were dozens of polling precincts _ mostly in Detroit _ where not a single vote was cast for Romney in 2012.
The visit would be Trump's third to Michigan since the Republican National Convention. He gave a speech on the economy to the Detroit Economic Club this month and was in Dimondale last week.
Clinton gave a jobs and economy speech in Warren and attended a fundraiser in Birmingham this month. She also spoke at the NAACP's Fight for Freedom dinner in Detroit in May and made stops at Detroit churches before the March 8 presidential primary in Michigan.
